


Ponytail

by shark_snark



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Hair Kink, M/M, but non-sexual, felix is a tsun, glenn dimitri and ingrid are mentioned, sylvain is dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23773942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shark_snark/pseuds/shark_snark
Summary: Sylvain is utterly bedazzled by Felix's hair. Felix can't say he hates it. Not anymore, at least.ORThat one time Sylvain is tying Felix's hair into a ponytail and remembers another five times where his hairstyle was the focus of his thoughts.--rated T for mentions of Glenn's death, other than that it's pretty tame
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 8
Kudos: 72





	Ponytail

Strands of hair swaying with every movement during swordplay; long locks dripping with water after a shower; tangles in a ponytail — Sylvain didn't remember how many times exactly he's been entranced by Felix's hair. He didn't remember how many times he's felt the silky softness on his fingers, threaded his hands through its lengths, smelled the faint scent of lavender and roses. He didn't remember how often he's stared at the bangs falling into his dazzling eyes, and the tips caressing his cheeks.

Even now, Sylvain could not avert his gaze from Felix's dark locks, could not focus on the muscles contracting on his back and shoulders as he was gathering his hair in a ponytail. All he could watch were the droplets of water pearling off the tips, the strands curling around his fingers like clingy little vines.

As if he was bewitched, he walked up to Felix, his hands traveled up his shoulders in feathery touches and his lips brushed his nape for a short moment. “Can I tie it for you?”

A sullen glare and a disgruntled growl promptly followed, though Felix stopped fussing with his hair. After a while, in which neither said anything, he closed his eyes and sighed, “Don’t tug too hard.”

“I won't, I won’t,” Sylvain promised as his hands took the position Felix's were in before. He gathered as many strands as he could, pulling them in from his sides firmly but also carefully as not to hurt his lover. And to evade a beating, because Felix surely would hit him in case he tore out his hair on accident.

After he was finished tying the red ribbon, Sylvain couldn't help but rub his fingertips along the end of the ponytail and place a gentle kiss on it as well.

In an instant Felix whipped his head around and freed himself from Sylvain's grip, scowling and growling, “Why are you so obsessed with my hair?”

_I am not_ , thought Sylvain but could not bring himself to voice it. He knew it was a lie, because he's had this obsession since they were little kids. He still vividly remembered the very first time the issue of Felix’s hair had come up between them.

It was when Felix’s brother Glenn was still alive, when they all gathered at the Fraldarius territory together with Ingrid and with Dimitri whenever his schedule allowed it. Much like his father, Glenn had grown out his hair and dark curls spilled from his tight, high ponytail. Only a few strands fell around his face but unlike Dimitri, who with his longer hair resembled a girl due to his delicate features and young age, Glenn looked ferociously stunning. Perhaps it was the constant scowl on his face or the harsh words that fell from his lips that gave him a more menacing, more masculine bad-boy-type of aura.

Sylvain couldn’t say he liked Glenn, not as a person, not as a sword fighting instructor, not as Felix’s brother. But he tolerated him, tolerated all the insults and his foul mouth because Felix looked up to him so much. And Felix, too, had taken interest in growing out his hair.

“I don’t want to look like a girl,” he said quietly, fiddling with his fingers in his lap. His hair hadn’t yet reached the same length as Glenn’s; it was tucked into a cute little ponytail at the back of his head and many strands fell loosely around his ears as they were too short to be tied up.

To Sylvain personally, it did not matter whether Felix looked like a girl or not. Dimitri might have looked a bit prettier, more feminine with long hair, but he was still the same Dimitri as before. He was still stronger than anyone their age, he was still diligent and smart, and he was still their crown prince. It only added to his charms. For Felix it would be the same, though he probably wanted to be like Glenn, _cool_ and _handsome_.

“Does Glenn look like a girl to you?” asked Sylvain and playfully poked Felix with his elbow.

Felix hesitated for a moment, thinking before he replied, “No.”

“See! You’ll look even better than him!” Sylvain gave him a gentle pat on the head. “I like it already!” 

“Thank you,” smiled Felix, his cheeks rosy from the warmth and happiness.

—

When they were a bit older and the tips of Felix’s hair grazed his neck whenever he moved his head, Sylvain often felt the urge to touch it. Of course he could not just sink his hand into it as if it was nothing, couldn’t run his fingers along his scalp and feel the softness beneath his fingertips. Instead he had to be more subtle and sly, reverting to teasing and goofing off. Though perhaps he should have thought about it more thoroughly.

As he was walking next to Felix he let himself fall back just the smallest of a step, caught the end of his ponytail between his fingers and _yanked —_ not hard of course, just enough to make Felix’s head tip back a bit. What he had forgotten, though, was that Felix was no longer the same little boy he used to be, that he was not crybaby Felix anymore who would cling to him and snot up his clothes while being comforted. He wasn’t the same Felix who would let him pat his head anymore. No, he’d grown to be a grump. In a swift motion, Felix whirled around and grabbed Sylvain’s wrist, twisting it and turning it until he felt the pain shoot into his elbow.

“Ow, ow! I’m sorry!” Sylvain pleaded for release but it did not come just yet.

Quite the opposite happened and Felix’s grip tightened as he barked, “Don’t touch my hair.”

It was the last time Sylvain tried anything like that for a while.

—

The next time they had met each other was at the military academy Garreg Mach. With the royal family slaughtered, Glenn dead, and the constant skirmishes with Sreng, both Sylvain and Felix hadn’t found much time to see each other. Maybe they also hadn’t found much interest in doing so anyway. But that didn’t mean Sylvain had lost all interest in their friendship, in reconnecting and in going ahead together.

It was a strange feeling for Sylvain, to face Felix in a mock battle, not to play pretend and imitate Glenn but as an actual practice for a real fight. It was also odd to see Felix with his hair caught in a bun, and loose strands curling around his face, brushing past his chin. He resembled Glenn more than Sylvain wanted to admit.

“Not sporting the ponytail anymore?” asked Sylvain, cocking up an eyebrow as he blocked Felix’s sword with his lance. It was easy to parry the blow, or so he thought, as he was schooled and cultivated to use his family’s relic one day.

But Felix, too, had taken up more sword lessons, particularly after his brother’s death. The block didn’t stagger him much, he was back into an offensive stance within seconds, made Sylvain grapple for his lance, and finally drove the hilt of his sword right into Sylvain’s chest. He gasped and tumbled backward, barely keeping on his feet.

“If you’re only here to chat, get lost,” snarled Felix and turned around as he called for 'the boar’, his bun bouncing from how it had loosened just a bit.

Sylvain was left staring after him with an open mouth.

—

There were many things both Felix and Sylvain had to learn, not only about tactics and strategies but about themselves and their relationship. It was almost as if they had never met before and at the same time as if they had never been apart.

It wasn’t until they stood pressed against each other, hands roaming backs, tugging, pulling, clutching, and their lips locked with one another that some things changed between them. Though, many remained the same.

Sylvain raised his hand, cradled Felix’s head and let his fingertips run along his scalp. For a moment he let him, but then Felix took a step back and glared at Sylvain. Swatting at his hand, he murmured, “Stop that.”

“No one’s going to see it,” whispered Sylvain and let his hand linger, “and it feels nice.” 

Their gazes met shortly, and just as Sylvain was about to give up and let his hand sink down, Felix sighed. In a very quiet, almost inaudible voice he said, “Fine.”

After that Sylvain had been allowed to actually touch his hair every once in a while as opposed to only watching and imagining it. He reveled in how easily he could brush a strand away from his sweaty forehead after practice, how often he could thread his fingers through his locks on a quiet night, how delicate the strands felt whenever they tickled his own face. Even now that Felix had cut his hair a bit and kept it in a ponytail reminiscent of their childhood days, Sylvain was still utterly in love with it.

—

One day, after they had spent years together as a couple, when they both sat in the bath to relax, Sylvain couldn’t help but chuckle at his lover. It had become a habit of his to keep his hair up in a ponytail even in the tub. Unless it needed a washing, of course.

Sylvain’s hands tugged at the ribbon that held Felix’s hair up, playfully, carefully, while scattering soft kisses along his shoulder. “Let me see it down?”

A sigh and a shove against his chest came as a reply, but neither truly intended to stop him. Instead, Felix looked at him, eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed, though not in annoyance or anything alike. “Why do you care so much about my hair?” 

Sylvain didn’t remember what he had replied back then, but he knew just what to say right now. “Because it’s beautiful. I love it.” 

He resisted the urge to catch a loose strand between his fingertips, to brush it back behind Felix’s ear and revel in the softness of its silky touch. What caught him by surprise, was the faint tinge of red on Felix’s cheeks, the scowl he put on to hide his blush, and how he gently leaned into him. Sylvain felt he was allowed to caress Felix’s skin, to tickle his way up to his ear and make the fallen strands nestle back into place behind it.

“Why did you cut it anyway?” he asked in a whisper, hushed, muffled by Felix’s head. It wasn’t as if he liked his hair any less because it was shorter now than the luscious locks he used to have during their time at Garreg Mach. He remembered them, each and every curl that went past his shoulders. Now his hair barely passed his jaw.

“It’s annoying,” replied Felix and shrugged. “Gets in the way during sword practice and fights.”

A second passed, two, three, four.

“Then why didn’t you cut it entirely?”

Their gazes met, briefly, a curious stare against a frowning one, and when Sylvain felt a gentle kiss placed on his lips, he practically melted against Felix’s frame. Blinking down at him, he couldn’t help but feel more dazed when he heard the answer to his question.

“Because you like it so much.” 

When their gazes met this time, it was with warmth and mirth and gentle smiles; when their lips connected, it was more than just a shy nuzzle. For a while, they kept at it, tugging, nipping, pawing at each other, and then they parted just a bit. This time it was Felix’s hand that was clutching at his neck, pulling streaks of hair and curling them between his fingers.

“The ponytail, too,” he said without looking at him. “I wear it, because you look so happy whenever I do.” 

And Sylvain was. He loved his ponytail, the short strands that stuck out from it, the longer ones that grazed his neck, the bobbing and the swinging of it whenever Felix moved. He also loved his open hair, regardless of its length, the soft curls he used to have around his shoulders and the pointy tips around his cheeks; he loved the bouncy bun, and he was sure he’d love it cut all off as well. But the ponytail? It was his favorite.

The smile on Sylvain’s face morphed into a grin as he pulled and playfully yanked on the hair at Felix’s head, wriggling his eyebrows as he mused, “So you actually enjoy it when I tease you?” 

Felix promptly head-butted him on the chin.

“Don’t let it get to your head,” he grumbled, though a small smile twitched on his lips.

Rubbing his aching chin, Sylvain laughed, “I won’t, I won’t!”

But of course, he did let it get to his head.

**Author's Note:**

> I think I made Glenn seem much less likeable than he deserved, sorry about that.  
> If I have to write another piece with so many excessive mentions of hair, strands and ponytails, I'll fling myself from my bed onto the floor and hope I'll pass out before I can do that lol. 
> 
> I hope you had a little fun reading this anyway, thank you for stopping by!


End file.
